Child’Space and Dr. Chava Shelhav

About Dr. Chava Shelhav

Our body’s movement has an infinite impact on all aspects of our life

Dr. Chava Shelhav is a senior teacher of the Feldenkrais method; was born in Israel, and lives in Tel-Aviv. Dr. Shelhav was a member of the first group of students trained personally by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, worked with him for many years and acted as his assistant in programs worldwide. She is one of a handful people who are responsible for the promotion of the method to the international status it holds nowadays. Chava Shelhav introduced this method to a variety of institutions in Israel and Germany, among them hospitals, Child-development Centers, Kindergartens and schools.

She received her PhD at Heidelberg University in Germany. Her thesis led to her book (in German) “Movement as a model of learning”, was published by Modernes Lernen (VML) in 1999. Her MA degree she received at Boston University based on her work with children with Cerebral Palsy and her master’s thesis, “Working with Brain Damaged Children Using the Feldenkrais Method,” that was published in 1989. Her method of teaching utilizes aspects of the body-mind relationship, and emphasizes the influence of early development on the individual and on social personality.

Dr. Shelhav achieved distinction through her work with infants and children, especially disabled ones. During the last 40 years she trained thousands of students, and witnessed the growing need and interest of working with babies and special needs babies and developed “Child’Space – The Chava Shelhav method”—a unique Method of Developmental coaching that applies the Feldenkrais theory while working with babies and their caregivers.

, thus developed the Child’Space Shelhav Method, and since 2002 she has been training practitioners and therapists in the Child’Space method in Israel, USA, Japan, Netherland, Russia, Austria and Argentina.

Dr. Shelhav has been the Educational Director for Feldenkrais professional training programs in Israel, the UK, USA and Germany as well as quest trainer for numerous programs internationally. She is the head the Center for the Feldenkrais Method in Germany, Feldenkraiszcentrum, for the last 30 years.

Dr. Shelhav about Dr. Feldenkrais

I ultimately acquired a deep understanding of mechanisms of human movement and the way movement is connected to the senses, to self-awareness and to personal development.
Sharing the skills, knowledge and principles I learned under Dr. Feldenkrais with my clients and students has become my life’s work.

“Observing different people from different places and cultures led me to a deep understanding that movement has a decisive influence on all aspects of our life. I realized how important it is to detect motor and behavioral problems from the toddler years. This approach led me on the path to working with children and adults, whose problems have not yet been diagnosed.”

Early detection and intervention through contact and movement, create a change in self-image, behavior and wellness in every moment of our daily lives.

Chava Shalhav was a student and assistant of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in the training of instructors in Israel and abroad. She was a co-author of Feldenkrais’s book: The Elusive Obvious .

“When I met Moshe Feldenkrais, I felt like a whole new world opened up for me that captured my imagination. The entire learning process under his tutelage, involved a lot of personal experience. I acquired knowledge and understanding of the complex mechanism of human movement, and how it relates to senses, awareness, and personal development. My meetings with Feldenkrais, back then and after I graduated, influenced my way of thinking, my self-image, how I perceive others, and of course, the development of my work as well as my life.”

You may also like

See our film collection with examples of various classes and treatments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCHXv7PPC0Yhttp://youtu.be/tRW5ku7qOK4http://youtu.be/brSZF5UL3Lohttp://youtu.be/7G6SsjesxC0http://youtu.be/-JXm6PZmLl8http://youtu.be/TWoA6L5IjJAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44f3th-AqS0&feature=youtu.behttp://youtu.be/5-1brq8dLn8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQolL7D1vNs